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CHILD ABUSE THEORIES SOC 5870 Dr. M. C. Sengstock, Ph.D. C.C.S. Theories of Child Abuse From Psychology, Sociology, Medicine. Categories of Theories & Applications. Explanatory Theories Psychological Theories Environmental Models Life Crisis Theory Social Learning Theory
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CHILD ABUSE THEORIESSOC 5870Dr. M. C. Sengstock, Ph.D. C.C.S. Theories of Child Abuse From Psychology, Sociology, Medicine
Categories of Theories & Applications • Explanatory Theories • Psychological Theories • Environmental Models • Life Crisis Theory • Social Learning Theory • Family Dynamics Theory • Social Psychological vs. Psychodynamic Models • Theoretically Based Attempts to Correct Abusive Parental Behavior • Public Issues
Psychological Theories of Child Abuse (#1) • Mental Illness Model: • Child Abuse Unthinkable – Abusers Mentally Ill • May Be True of Most Extreme – <5% (Kempe) • Parent As Deprived Child: • Abusive Parent Was Never Loved As Child • “Hostility Sponge” – Take Anger Out On Children • Therapists Must Supply This Missing Love • Psychological (Character Trait) Models: • Lists of Traits of Abusive Parents (cf. Lists Below)
Adults Who Abuse Children:Psychological Characteristics (EX 1) • They Have Mental or Psychological Problems: • Self-Expressed Anger • Anger Control Problems • Depression – Anxiety • Low Tolerance for Frustration • Low Self Esteem • Rigid in Their Views • Deficit in Empathy – “Taking Role of the Other”
Psychological Characteristics (EX 2) • Many Family & Interpersonal Problems: • Marital Problems • History of Having Been Abused Themselves • Deficits in Positive Interactions With the Child … • & With Other Family Members • Tend to Be Isolated • Also Try To Isolate the Family From Outsiders to Hide Their Behavior
Psychological Characteristics (EX 3) • Abusive Parents Also Tend to Have: • Physical Health Problems • Perceive Life in General to Be Stressful • May Have Substance Dependence or Abuse • Tend to Have “Physiological Over-Activity” … • I.e., Tend to Have a Physiological Reaction When Child Misbehaves – Unable to React in a Rational Manner
Psychological Characteristics (ctd) • Difficulties in Parenting: • Unrealistic Expectations of Children (Jackson Prison) • Tend to Disregard Child’s Needs • Poor Child Management Skills (Little Training) • Poor Problem-Solving Skills With Children • Inconsistent in Approach to Parenting • See Parental Role As Stressful, Intrusive • View Children In Negative Manner • Little Communication, Interaction with Children
Psychological Theories of Child Abuse (#2) • Psychodynamic Model: “Mothering Imprint” • Focuses on MOTHER’s Early Childhood Experience • MOTHER Must Have “Bonded” With HER Mother in 1st 24 Hours of Life • If She Did Not, She Can NEVER Bond With Anyone Ever – Including Her Own Child! • If True, No Adopted Child Could Ever Bond • No Child of the 50s – When Children Were Place in Nurseries Immediately – Could Bond Either!
Psychological Theories of Child Abuse (#3) • Authoritarian Personality Theory • Developed by Adorno to Explain Nazi Horrors • Nazis Never Developed Internal Social Control • Dependent On Outside Control (Police) • Assume Everyone Else Is Like That • Children Must Have Outside Rules … • & Severe Punishment If They Are Broken • Develop Minor Rules, Severe Punishments • May Apply to Some Very Severe Abuse
Environmental Models (#1) • Socio-Economic Model: • Assumes Abusive Parents Lower Class • Have the Stresses of Lower Class Life • Cure Child Abuse By Curing Poverty • Also Give Birth Control Information • Problem: Not All Abusive Parents Are Lower Class • Some Lower Class Parents Are Model Parents
Environmental Models (#2) • Linkage Theory (M. Straus) • Adaptation of Environmental Model • Lower Class Parents Know Life Is Difficult • Attempt to Teach Child to Be Tough to Deal With the Stresses of Adult Life • Support for Theory: Lower Class Parents Who Send Kids to College Are Less Abusive • Straus Does Not Use This Theory Anymore
Life Crisis Theory • Suggests Abusive Parents Are Over-Stressed • Numerous Stressful Events • Not Any Single Stress (Such As Poverty) • Sample Stresses: Divorce, Job Change, Marriage, New Baby, etc. • Holmes & Rahe Stress Scale • Abusive Parents Do Have More Stresses • Abused Elders Have Similar Stress Levels • Many High Stress Families Do NOT Abuse
Social Learning Theories Focus: Parents Learning About Child Rearing • Inadequate Learning Theory: • Inadequate Knowledge Re Normal Behavior • Unrealistic Expectations of Children • Lack Knowledge of Child Management • Adequate Learning – Wrong Kind • Parents Have Clear Ideas About Children • Committed to Using Severe Punishments • Often Based on Religion or Family Traditions
Family Structure Models • Family Setting Plays Role in Child Treatment • Family Interaction Patterns Play Role: • Parents Influence Each Other RE Child Mgmt • Family Dynamics: • Family Interactions Affect Child Management • Unstable Triad: Father – Mother – Child • Childhood Alliances • Can Produce Problematic Child-Rearing
Social Psychological Model(vs. Psychodynamic Model) Richard Gelles’ Model – Complex Factors: • Social Status of Parent (Age, Sex, SES, Ethnic) • Class/Community Values (Violence, Children) • Parents’ Socialization Experiences • Situational Stress (Structure; Stress from Child) • Psychodynamic Stress (Mental Problems; Substance Abuse; Personality Control) • Immediate Precipitating Situation (Argument, Household Event, Child Misbehavior) • Child Abuse (Single; Repeated; Physical; Psychological)
Correcting Abusive Parental Action Several Approaches, Including: • Systems Approach • Dealing With Parental Stress • Joint Approach With Parents • Training in Child Rearing • Anti-Isolation • Alternate Tension-Release Mechanisms
Systems Approach • Does NOT Look At Any Single Factor • Focuses On Numerous Factors: • Family Life • Community Factors • Economic Environment • Extended Family Influences • Economic Influence of Other Parents
Dealing With Parental Stress Assumes Abusive Parents Are Unhappy People: • Abusive Parents Feel Unloved • “Mothering the Parent”: • Therapists Help Parents Deal With Their Issues • Sadly, Some Issues Take Years to Resolve • EX: PACT Mother & Sons: • Mother’s Counselor: Don’t Remove Kids! • What To Do With Children In Meantime?
Joint Approach With Parents • Some Counselors Refuse to See Just 1 Parent • Assume BOTH Parents Involved • EX: Mother Abusing Child(ren) • Husband Abusing Mother, or … • Husband Goading Mother to Improve Child’s Behavior • Treating Only 1 Parent Is Useless • Wife Comes Home to Husband’s Criticism: • “When You Gonna Get Yer Act Together So the Kid Comes Home?”
Training in Child Rearing • Help Parent Understand Normal Child Behavior • Help Parents Deal With Misbehavior in More Constructive & Non-Abusive Manner • Many Parents Have Unrealistic Expectations About Children Providing Satisfaction • Help Parents Relinquish These Expectations & Find Other Outlets for Personal Rewards
Anti-Isolation • Many Abusive Parents Are Essentially Isolates: • Have Few Adult Friends • No One to Call Upon In Times of Difficulty • “Agoraphobia” – Very Uncomfortable With People • Some Therapists Will Only Use Group Therapy • Aim to Give Members Experiences Working with Others • EX: Week’s Assignment: “Go Out & Get Mail!”
Alternate Tension-Release Mechanisms • Teach Parents Alternative Mechanisms for Dealing with Tensions – Other Than Violence • Different from Psychoanalytic Method – Which Contends That Aggressive Feelings Must Be Expressed to Get Rid of Them • Help People (Adults & Children) Deal with Frustrations Without resorting to Violence • UNREALISTIC to Attempt to Avoid Stress & Scary Stories – Must Learn to Deal With Them!
Public Issues Related to Child Abuse U.S. Society Has Ambivalence Re Child Abuse 3 Dimensions • Ambivalence in View of Parents & Children • Ambivalence Re Dealing With Child Abuse • Ambivalence Re Physical Punishment
Ambivalence in View of Parents & Children • Outrage at Abuse – Consider Abusive Parents to Be Crazy Monsters … BUT • Protective of Parents’ Rights – Reluctant to Take Any Measures to Interfere in A Parent’s Decisions Regarding His/Her Children
Uncertainty RE Dealing With Child Abuse What To Do When A Parent Is Abusive? • Take Child From Parent(s)? • How Bad Does Abuse Have to Be to Remove? • What To Do With Child Once Removed? • Who Should Have Custody? Relative? Foster? • Who Should Pay for His/Her Care? • How to Decide When Should Child Be Returned to Parents?
Ambivalence Re Physical Punishment • U.S. Society Clearly Disagrees With Extreme Physical Punishment to Endangerment • Most U.S. Parents Clearly Believe That Physical Punishment is Necessary for Raising Children Adequately • Considerable Disagreement Over Point at Which “Punishment” Moves From “Normal” to “Extreme”
Problems With the System System Problems Re Child Abuse Management: • Reporters Often Uncertain Re Process • Administrators Prefer Internal Reports – 2011: • Penn State Football Asst Coach Jerry Sandusky • Sexually Abused Several Young Boys • Reports Only Sent to Coach Paterno & Administration • State Police Frank Noonen: Never Heard of This! • Many System Personnel Condone Abuse! • Judge William Adams – Texas Family Court – Beat Disabled 16 Year Old Daughter, Hilary, in 2004 • Daughter’s Video Posted On-Line in 2011
Looking to the Future • How Do We Deal With Child Abuse? • Before Our Approach Will Work … • We Need to Come to Terms With Ambivalence • Reach Agreement Over Appropriate Child-Rearing Practices • What Is Appropriate Discipline? • What Is Abusive? • What to Do When Discipline Becomes Abuse?